Chapter 181 History, Contamination, and the Black Sun

The line of text that suddenly appeared on the "Chronicle Pillar," the city-state no one knew, the battle no one knew, the failure and sacrifice no one knew—a piece of history that existed in no one's memory, leaving behind only a trace to the world after its demise.

And even this extremely brief sentence was probably transmitted to the real world at the cost of countless Fire-Keepers' lives.

After listening to Morris, Duncan fell into thought after a brief moment of surprise.

The Fire-Keeper Church… he knew the general situation of this sect.

After learning that there were "Four Gods Faiths" in this world, he became very interested in these gods who had a great impact on the operation of the world. The book Morris had sent him happened to contain a lot of content related to the Four Gods Churches, so he learned about the churches of the Four Great Gods. Among these Four Gods Faiths, the "Fire-Keepers" were the most special in his opinion.

The core of the Fire-Keepers' belief, or rather their "creed," was completely different from the followers of the other three gods. The storm, wisdom, and death pursued by the followers of the other three gods were relatively easy to understand concepts, while what the Fire-Keepers pursued… was the more ethereal thing of "history."

History is the memory of civilization, passed down from generation to generation in the changing years—this is the core of the Fire-Keepers' belief. They believe that civilization began with "fire" and has continued to this day symbolized by "fire." There are countless threats in the world that are trying to interfere with or distort the transmission of this fire, and their mission is to fight against these threats and ensure the stable continuation of civilization's fire.

The Fire-Keepers follow and worship Tahr-Ezhin, the "Eternal Burning Fire," a giant standing at the beginning of civilization. It is said that He preserves and guards the first bonfire lit by mortals, and transforms this bonfire into a part of His body. He distinguishes the correct history from the jumping and branching of the flames and imprints it on His body. As civilization continues to advance, this giant becomes larger and larger, and when He grows to the limit, the civilization of mortal beings will obtain true security, and no one can threaten the correct continuation of history, and even the sub-space cannot annihilate civilization.

This is the original text in the book Morris sent, and also the most important paragraph in the Fire-Keepers' *Scripture of Kindling*.

In Duncan's view, the last part of these descriptions may just be the thoughts of believers, a pie drawn by the church, and its credibility remains to be discussed, but the descriptions of the "Fire-Keepers guarding history" should be true.

History can be polluted, and naturally it can be protected, and vice versa.

"...So they did it once back then…" Duncan suddenly muttered thoughtfully.

"What did you say?" Morris didn't react for a moment. "Did it once back then? What does this mean…"

"It's nothing, just talking to myself," Duncan shook his head lightly, looking at the old gentleman in front of him with a serious expression. "The information you brought is very important."

"The information I brought?" Morris was a little confused. "Are you talking about the third record I mentioned earlier? That message that appeared on the Fire-Keepers' Chronicle Pillar?"

Duncan nodded slightly, then suddenly frowned again: "But there's something I'm very curious about. Does the Black Sun have the authority to pollute history?"

"This…" Morris hesitated, obviously this was beyond the scope of his knowledge as a "history expert." "I'm not very clear about the Black Sun's authority, this is probably only understood by experts who specialize in fighting against evil gods, but based on what I know, the Black Sun shouldn't theoretically have this ability…"

Duncan nodded thoughtfully, while Morris looked at the "sub-space shadow" in front of him who seemed to be thinking, with some unease.

This "Mr. Duncan" has always been very polite and patient. He discussed academic issues with himself, asked questions and thought from time to time. This atmosphere was just like the last time he visited the antique shop, but the phantoms and noises that appeared in his mind from time to time were still constantly reminding Morris, letting him realize that he was walking on the edge of the abyss.

"Mr. Duncan" seemed to be interested in the Fire-Keepers, interested in the "pollution and protection of history." Why was this? Was this being from the sub-space planning something? The God of Wisdom, Rahm, asked him to stay and contact him in order to obtain information in this regard? What is the relationship between this sub-space shadow and the God of Wisdom? Could it be some kind of confrontation?

Was he participating in a game between gods? Was he now acting as the God of Wisdom's "eyes and ears" to spy on his opponent?

Confused and chaotic thoughts rose and fell in Morris's mind. He became more and more cautious. After realizing the "role" he might be playing, he even felt a sense of mission spontaneously, feeling that Rahm seemed to be standing behind him, observing the "Mr. Duncan" in front of him through his eyes.

While the old gentleman was thinking wildly, Duncan finally finished his contemplation. The latter suddenly raised his head and muttered with a mixture of curiosity and emotion: "Speaking of which, those 'Sun Heretics' have done so many things, and they can still be active today… Haven't the normal people of the various city-states ever thought about completely exterminating these lunatics?"

"Exterminating an evil god cult is easier said than done," Morris woke up from his thoughts and shook his head subconsciously. "The beliefs of heretics are like mercury entering the body, penetrating everywhere. No matter how many are eliminated, new ones will always emerge. In the final analysis, this is because the 'god' behind them is still active—as long as that corresponding evil god is still there, then the pollution and infiltration of mortals will never stop. You must know that even if all the adults in a city-state die, leaving only the purest newborns, there will naturally be minds among those newborns that are bewitched…"

As Morris spoke, he shook his head: "Some people are just living their lives well, and most of their lives are diligent and honest people, but just because of a weakness in a setback, a slight wavering in a moment of fear, or seeing something they shouldn't have seen, or hearing about something they shouldn't have known, they become the minions of heretics overnight, their minds are filled with forbidden knowledge, they put on black robes and become believers of evil gods. How can such heretical corruption be cleaned up?"

Speaking of this, the old gentleman subconsciously glanced at Duncan again, his expression becoming a little strange.

Duncan looked puzzled: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Forgive my offense," Morris took a light breath and mustered his courage. "But shouldn't you be very aware of this kind of… corruption that happens among mortals?"

Duncan didn't react at first, but after two seconds, he understood what the other party meant, and immediately looked helpless: "I don't do this - I usually abide by the law very much, and I take the initiative to report any cultists I see to the nearest security officer."

Morris: "…….?"

The old gentleman obviously had a lot to say in an instant, but he didn't dare to say a word.

Duncan felt that the topic was a bit off, and quickly waved his hand before the other party could speak: "I understand what you mean. The evil god believers in the mortal world are just the 'appearance.' The biggest problem is that the 'evil god' itself cannot be eliminated, so their pollution is like a poison that constantly breeds wave after wave of cultists, and the guardians fight for ten thousand years without being able to clean it up… But is the Black Sun's influence really that strong? I've seen that unlucky guy. He's almost dead. Don't even mention interfering in the mortal world, it takes a final burst of energy for him to say a word to me. Can someone like that still pollute the world?"

Morris's mouth twitched: "The Black Sun's state is bad, but that's only in your eyes. We… are all just fragile mortals…"

Duncan felt an unspeakable strangeness in his heart. He wanted to say to the old gentleman on the spot, "I'm also human, do I look any different from humans?" But after considering the old man's physical and mental health, he didn't have the nerve to say these words…

Morris, on the other hand, seemed to have thought of something after subconsciously saying what was in his mind. He paused for a moment and added, "But your doubts may also point to the key to the problem. If the Black Sun's condition is really as bad as you said, His pollution of the mortal world shouldn't be so strong, at least not so strong as to make the Solar Heretics so difficult… All of this may still be related to those beings called 'Children of the Sun.'"

"Children of the Sun…" Duncan muttered thoughtfully, and the tall, thin shadow that had appeared in Shirley's dream involuntarily came to his mind again.

Although there was no clear evidence, he always felt that that thing was probably related to the legendary "Children of the Sun."

The Black Sun has already declined and is no longer able to shine on this world, but the Black Sun's descendants have continued to this day, extending the Black Sun's influence from another aspect, causing the Solar Cultists to be unable to be eliminated, and their harm is getting greater and greater.

But here, one problem remains unsolved:

The Black Sun does not have the ability to pollute history, and of course his descendants cannot.

However, in the early days of the New City-State Calendar, the news from the city-state "Wilhelm," which was forgotten by history, said that "the Black Sun descended from history." Now, there are also signs of historical pollution in the Pland City-State. What is going on?

Could it be… is someone "helping" the Black Sun to resurrect from history?